Please help,my Dog isn't feeling well..

sundazzle

sundazzle

Singing Sea Pony
Joined
Jun 8, 2005
Messages
973
Update on page 2. She has liver failure!! ;_;


Hello all!

My Maltese,Mandy,has been a bit off for quite a long time. This summer her pooh was yellowy and soft (I'm sure you all wanted to know that!) and eventually the color and texture returned to almost normal after using the medicine my vet gave her. But it never quite got totally back to normal. Lately her droppings have been very dark and with occasional mucus.

The vet says she has a very high white blood cell count and has some sort of inflammation inside. He said the muck was so dark because of digested blood. So she is currently on more pills,almost done them,and she isn't back to normal. A bit better in color,but not normal. It's been so many months of fighting this I honestly can't even remember what a healthy dog pooh looks like! Her stomach also seems to always feel full and tight,not how she generally feels,I am worried something really scary is going on inside her! :cry: Her last blood test said all her organs were fine though... Also in the last few days,she has been breathing a bit heavily in the evenings. She sort of sounds like she's snoring a bit but she's awake. It doesn't seem to bother her and she isn't breathing really fast or anything,but it's just a bit worrying.

We have been to the vet so many times trying this and that and nothing is getting her back to good health and I'm getting worried and exasperated!

Have any of you had experiences with your pets similar to this? Any ideas or tips? Last time Mandy wasn't well,you guys gave me heaps of help which actually ended up healing her sore mouth! Thankyou for that!

Help!
 
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Sounds like what would be irritable bowel disorders (for people, at least). Digested blood means that she's bleeding somewhere in her GI tract. The full/tight stomach sounds like bloating.

What sort of vet have you been going to? Perhaps you should go to a bigger/better one, because this is something that should have been pinpointed already. Is there a vet school nearby? Or a teaching hospital?
 
I couldn't say for certain what causes this but one of my retrievers had terrible dia-wotsits when we rescued him. Took him months to settle and we think it was because his old owners constantly swapped his diet around and he was intolerant to some of the junk in foods like Pedigree. (Funny enough, we had to feed our dogs Pedigree in an emergency because we ran out of their normal food, and they all produced enormous orange poo... as soon as they went back to their normal food, they went back to regular size and colour!)

What do you feed Mandy? Perhaps it's a food allergy/intolerance? My sister is more knowledgeable about this sort of thing, so I'll ask for you when she gets in. :)
 
I agree that it might be a good idea to take Mandy to a different vet for another opinion. This has been going on for an awfully long time, and I feel like they should've figure out what was wrong by now. Your vet might be nice and seem knowledgeable (?), but that doesn't mean they know everything. Sometimes it just takes a new perspective to figure out what's wrong.
 
The food allergy thing is a good point! Long term feeding of something she's allergic to could really make her sick.
 
Yes I agree with everyone else maybe try a different vet to get a second opinion, to me it does sound like she is allergic to something. Have a look at the ingredients in her food. Maybe its something like lactose I know a lot of people have a problem with that maybe some pets can have it too.

Just done some googling. The high white blood cells are because her immune system is trying to fight something off like a tummy bug or something like that.

It doesn't really sound like bloating from what I have just looked up but maybe mention it next time you go to the vets as this can be serious.

Here are some tips I found to avoid bloating

.Divide the day’s ration into three equal meals, spaced well apart.
.Do not feed your dog from a raised food bowl.
.Avoid feeding dry dog food that has fat among the first four ingredients listed on the label.
.Avoid foods that contain citric acid.
.Restrict access to water for one hour before and after meals.
.Never let your dog drink a large amount of water all at once.
.Avoid strenuous exercise on a full stomach.

These could just help her with a steady diet anyway. Also maybe she is anxious about something, if you are upset about anything or anything worrying you she will be able to feel this. I know my cats get really funny when I am upset. Or if there is a change in the house (new arrival or changing a room around) they go a little loopy.

My Nana has always told me that pets don't really like change, they like to know what is going on.

Hope this is of some help & hope she is better soon :)
 
Thankyou everyone!!

Getting a second opinion is probly a good idea.

She is currently on a Hills vet diet for skin health as she has scaly/scabby skin on her back which the vet says is likely due to 'allergies'. It's really frustrating to not know what she's allergic to!!

We are considering slowly trying a new food or making our own food for her that doesn't have all the junk in it.

Hahamadoi,the vet said it could take weeks for Mandy to settle and get better just as your dog did. It's just so frustrating because you could wait weeks and nothing happens or she gets worse.

She finished her pills yesterday,so if nothing improves in the next few days we'll probly go to the vet (or a different one!) soon. The vet she had as a puppy was older and perhaps wiser than the young guy we see now. She moved to a clinic in a different town so maybe we'll go see her.
 
Hills is one of those super-expensive vet-promoted brands.. I can't remember if they're actually worth it. My boy was on Hills for a while and it did nothing for him. He only really settled when we put him on Burns Lamb and Rice kibble, but that may be an English food that you can't get. His stomach is fine now and he gets supplemented with raw meat like lamb bones and chicken wings, and fresh veg. He's on a brand called Skinners now, which is made in our county.

You could try Mandy on the standby "sick doggy" food we make up for ours when they're stressed. Brown rice and turkey with some fresh veg like carrots. It just helps to settle their stomachs, we found. And it should help her coat too because there are no weird ingredients. (Even Hills is made up of a lot of "meal" product, flavourings and wheat.)

I hope she's feeling better soon!
 
Hills Science Diet is really not all that trustworthy.

Animals are like people in that they can have sensitivities to certain ingredients or eating junk. Since pets' main diets are normally some sort of kibble, imagine eating junk food most of the time. You'd feel pretty bad, too.

Unless your pet is on a specific type of food (like how my cats are for urinary stuff), you should trying switching to a brand of food with less junk in it. Go to your local pet store that's a small business (not Petco or PetSmart), as they'll be a lot more knowledgeable and less likely to sell you a large brand. The food will be more expensive, but it'll be a lot better than having to keep taking your dog to the vet.
 
Hills is better then pedigree but its not as good as some of the other brands. I looked at some research on dog food brands and most of the ones we THINK of as good - Purina, Pedigree, Hills, ect scored pretty low since most of the ingredients are garbage.

I feed Mr Bubbles food that as the first few ingredients listed as Turkey, salmon, chicken, ect otherwise he will keep me up all night because he will have an upset stomach :madpony: The other thing I look for is to see where its made and I avoid ones made in or with products from China.

Rachel Ray's dog food is probably the best you can find at a store like walmart but actual petstores like petsmart/petco will have a better variety. I usually get him one called spot's Stew - salmon flavored but then the stupid cats eat it on him.
 
Devastaing news from the vet,her liver is failing and is only 20% of the size it should be... I didn't know Anything this nightmarish was going on... I am so scared and heartbroken!

Does anybody have any tips for helping livers? We've read that the liver is one of the only organs that can repair itself so we are not losing hope yet! We have read Milk Thistle is fantastic for liver health,we just have to get some. Has anybody else experienced this with their dog?

*sigh* This has been Such a rough year,losing my Dad,then my most beloved cow gets heart failure and I'm scared of what I'll find every day when I go out to check her and now my littlest furbaby has this happen...
 
Livers can repair themselves, but not if they're scarred. This is something your vet needs to tell you on what to do next, not people on the Internet. We don't know what exactly is causing your dog to have liver failure, so we can't give the proper advice on what to do to help.

DONT use herbal supplements, either. Their concentration/potency is never consistent and there's no way to know if there's any impurities in them, as they're not "medicine" and aren't watched over by the FDA. Animals also react to things differently than us, so just because it might work in a person, doesn't mean it would in an animal.
 
I know you guys aren't vets but I thought someone might've had a similar experience and maybe had some tips or support. The vet said there's nothing more he can do which I think is junk. He gave us a can of special liver support food to try and Mandy won't touch it,plus when we looked it was made of pork by-products! And a vet gave it to us! So,of course I am going to be looking for other ideas.
He said it was due to old age that this was happening to her.

We have done a lot of research and we found a really good,respectable specialist woman who has complete holistic kits for dogs with liver problems and many others. (It's not a wacky lady pratting about and selling stuff she has no clue about.) It's a 3 week course and comes with a bunch of natural recipes to make for your dog plus all the holistic remedies. You do the course and then get a blood test from your vet and see if things are getting better and go from there. We are also giving her Sun Chlorella as that stuff does wonders for animals and people. (The Gentle Barn Sanctuary uses it on all their sick animals and have had practically miracles happen.)

This is all we can do as the vet cannot think outside the box,I know they only know what they were taught in school,but it's sad that they never look to other types of medicine,natural things or types of therapy,etc. We also read that hydratherapy can be really good but we'll check with the vet before trying that as I don't even know where her liver is located from the outside! lol!
 
My dog (also a senior/little dog) had the same thing happen with his stools. They were bloody, mucousy, some times just blood/liquid. turned out his liver was enlarged. he had pancreatitis months before that. after rounds of steroids/antibiotics, he got better and continues to be okay a year later BUT ONLY if i just feed him chicken and rice. if he just eats all dog food, it bothers him and he goes back to being sick. maybe you could feed your dog a diet like that? i give him white rice and 99% fat free chicken, every day. some times i mix part of a can of dog food in with it (if he'll eat it) he can tolerate high quality, low fat, treats, some times but not too much. there was a supplement the vet had him on, called denamarin for liver support. perhaps you can get this and maybe it will help. it did help my dog but after a few months i realized i could control his health with just food control.
 
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milk thistle and sam-e are great for liver support. supplements like denamarin and hepato-support can really help with elevated liver enzymes.

home cooked diets are great, but only if you supplement with vitamins. just chicken/turkey/whatever protein and rice is not a balanced diet - and may work in the short term, but could have bad side effects in the long run.

if your vet won't help you, maybe it's time to find another vet that suits your needs, or ask for a referral to see a internal medicine specialist.
 
I am so sorry. I know how heartbreaking news like this can be.
I would look for a new vet. There are things that can be done, and your vet should not be washing their hands of you at a time like this. That is just shameful. I'm so sorry.
 
The vet should have known something was wrong with her liver when her stool was yellow.
Depending on her age, if she's in liver failure, I'm not sure if there's much you can do for her. But try to stay positive, maybe you can keep her happy and comfortable for a little longer. :1985:
 
Thankyou for your ideas and help everyone! We are using the kit we sent for and thank goodness she is being a little angel about taking it! (She is normally a little monster to try to get pills or meds into!!) We have another week of the program left and then we'll take her in for some blood tests to see if it's helping.
We might go and have a second opinion somewhere too.

Meanwhile she is bouncing off the walls,eating like normal,going on 2 hour-long walks a day (weather permitting,lol),chasing squirrels and acting like there's nothing whatsoever wrong with her. :D Her stools seem to have gone back to normal now too after staring this program so I'm really happy!
 
Sorry

So sorry to hear your dog is ill just sending a little love your way to speed your pups recovery. xoxo

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